Evaluation of the Provider Incentive Payments Pilot on Reproductive Health Services in the Egyptian Health Sector Reform Program (2006-2007)

The main goal of this study is to further the development of district provider organizations' capacity to effectively and efficiently manage contractual arrangements for the Basic Benefit Package and other types of financing reforms.
The incentive payment scheme was established in five Egyptian governorates (Alexandria, Menoufia, Qena, Suhag and Suez) during the Health Sector Reform Programme (HSRP) pilot phase. Menoufia and Suhag governorates were selected as the sites for this study for two reasons:
- Represent Lower and Upper Egypt
- The incentive payment reform has been in place the longest of any HSRP site
Two criteria were used to design the sampling frame for selection of PHCUs in each of the selected DPOs:
- PHCU has not been moved nor will be moved during the period of this study from its current site.
- PHCU has been accredited for at least one year to ensure measuring the impact of an established incentive payment reform.
Within each of the selected DPOs, all the officials with any responsibility for the incentive payment scheme and all the physicians were contacted for participation in the study.
The study included all women in the reproductive age (15-49 years) who attended the four selected PHCUs receiving incentives (cases) and the four selected PHCUs with no incentive scheme (controls) and accepted to participate in the study upon their exit from the sampled PHCUs.